The City of Santa Barbara has red-tagged the historic La Casa de la Raza building, claiming that multiple safety concerns make the building unsafe.

City inspectors on Friday issued an order against the building at 601 E. Montecito St. after officials said they found potential safety hazards in the century-old structure.

The decision comes after city officials toured the building and the premises on Wednesday.

City officials informed the group through an email at around 12:30 p.m. that the city would be red-tagging the building. They arrived in person around 3:30 p.m.  

A press release from the city stated that officials found a lack of proper exit signage and illumination, a lack of proper exit door hardware, blocked exit access, exposed and unpermitted wiring, and unsafe and unpermitted gas piping.

“The combination of these aforementioned violations poses a significant risk to life in the event of a fire,” the press release said.

The original nonprofit La Casa de la Raza lost the building in a foreclosure in 2020. The building is planned for sale to pay creditors associated with the nonprofit’s bankruptcy case. 

 Court filings for the sale are proposing a starting price of $4,335,000.

The nonprofit is currently not allowed to operate, in connection with the bankruptcy case, said board president Lisa Valencia Sherratt. 

Another community group, La Casa Founders Holding Company, is using the historic Montecito Street building and using the La Casa de la Raza name. 

Jacqueline Inda, a representative of La Casa Founders Holding Company, who identified herself as the co-president of La Casa de la Raza, claimed the group was told that the city was interested in purchasing the building. Kelly McAdoo, the city administrator for Santa Barbara, said the city is not in negotiations to purchase the property.

Now that the building is closed, Inda said staff need to find a place to host their events. The group’s Mother’s Day events will now be hosted at Cafe La Fonda. Noozhawk reported in December 2023 that Inda was part of the team that opened the restaurant at 129 E. Anapamu St.

The current operators of the building took control of it after the original nonprofit organization lost the building.

“Eventually, the space was closed throughout the pandemic, and I was asked with my nonprofit, volunteer effort to step in to reopen the building,” Inda said. “And we did that, we rehabbed all the spaces. We opened … to the full capacity that La Casa has always been. Currently, we do all of our migrant rights work there.”

The La Casa de la Raza building has been known as a cultural center for the local Chicano community for decades, hosting classes, quinceañeras, concerts and more.

In recent months, the La Casa group operating in the building has upped its efforts to inform migrants of their rights and has held multiple workshops and rallies.

The City of Santa Barbara acknowledged the current climate around immigration and stated that the red tag was because of safety concerns.

“The city understands that this facility is used as a resource center for undocumented families and acknowledges the heightened concern among our immigrant and Latino communities related to official enforcement actions. The red-tag action is being taken purely to protect lives and prevent a potential tragedy,” the press release said.

Inda said members of her group will be attending next week’s Santa Barbara City Council meeting during public comment to ask the council to help relocate the group and possibly provide aid in renovating the building. Inda had told Noozhawk before the red-tagging on Friday that she planned to speak to the City Council.

The group also reportedly plans to ask to use the Ortega Welcome House to continue its work with immigration, ask for a second location for its activities, and ask for resources to help address other issues at the La Casa de la Raza building.

Editor’s note: This story has been revised to clarify the two groups using the La Casa de la Raza name in Santa Barbara. The original nonprofit organization no longer operates out of the Montecito Street building. The current operators, La Casa Founders Holding Company, are also using the La Casa de la Raza name.